CCP announces the release of Tyrannis, the latest expansion for EVE Online, their science fiction MMORPG. The add-on is free to current subscribers, and here's word: "Tyrannis will usher in new levels of player control as the pilots of EVE have turned their attention to the celestial bodies around them, casting surface inhabitants into the shadows of their powerful ships and exploiting the planets for the materials and profits they need to fuel countless ambitions. EVE Gate, the new web frontend and social networking platform for EVE Online, is a leap forward in extending the universe outside of the client, allowing access to in-game mail and features and bringing the community closer than ever before." EVE Online: Tyrannis is available on Steam, and is now part of their SteamPlay catalogue of games that can be played on both Windows and Mac.

I find the comments about EVE pretty funny. If you manage to get past the learning curve, which I admit can be a bit intimidating, it's actually a really fun game that requires a lot of tactics and strategy, especially if you fly in small gangs (which is what I prefer.) While it's certainly not a twitch game, combat can be fast and furious and fights rarely last more than a few minutes. You have to think and react fast to survive.

Fitting out ships is like a mini-game on it's own.

The UI is certainly clunky and garners the most complaints, but it's serviceable for how the game is played. Hopefully they will focus on it at some point and make it more user friendly.

Anyway, my take is from a PVP small-gang perspective. There really are so many ways to play the game that everyone's experience will be completely different. Which is probably one of the reasons EVE isn't more popular. It takes a long time to get a handle on it.